Novelist, poet and academic Nabaneeta Dev Sen, passed away in Kolkata today. She was 81.
Nabaneeta Dev Sen, one of the most accomplished authors of contemporary India, won many national and international awards, including the Padma Shri in 2000. She wrote more than 80 books in Bengali, which includes poetry, novels, short stories, plays, travelogues, essays, literary criticism and so on. She was also a popular writer for children. She has been an internationally renowned literary icon for women.
Her first collection of poems Pratham Pratyay was published in 1959. Some of her important works include Bama-bodhini, Nati Nabanita, Srestha kabita, and Sita Theke Shuru. Her travelogues – humourous, witty and cerebral – are among her most popular works. Travelogues like Karuna Tomar Kon Path Diye and Truckbaahoney Myakmahone are classics in Bengali literature. Her works have been translated into several languages, including English.
Apart from the Padma Shri, she also received the Sahitya Akademi Award, Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad Award, the Celli Award from Rockfeller Foundation, Mahadevi Verma Award, Kamal Kumari National Award, among others.
Born in Kolkata, Dev Sen graduated from Presidency College and did her Masters from Jadavpur University. She also studied at Harvard University, Indiana University, University of California at Berkeley and Newnham College, Cambridge University. She taught Comparative Literature at Jadavpur University, from where she retired in 2002. She has been visiting professor and visiting creative writer at several universities in many countries.
Nabaneeta Dev Sen was married to economist Amartya Sen (who won the Nobel Prize in 1998) and they were later divorced. They have two daughters – Antara and Nandana.
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